Chang’e and Houyi

According to the most widely spread Mid-Autumn Festival story, in ancient times there
were ten suns shining in the sky. The crop was drying and people suffered a lot. There
was a powerful archer named Hou Yi, who was determined to relieve this suffering. He
climbed to the top of Kunlun Mountain, took full strength to pull the bow with all his
strength and shot down nine suns. He said to the last sun in the sky: “From now on,
you must rise on time and fall on time every day, and benefit the people!” 

From then on, everyone respected him. Many people became followers of him and
learned from him. A man named Fengmeng who was treacherous and greedy was
among them. 

One day, Wangmu (the Queen of Heaven) living in the Kunlun Mountain gave Hou Yi an
elixir as a reward for his magnificent feat. This elixir could help people who drank it
ascend to heaven and become immortal. However, Hou Yi was not willing to leave his
wife Chang E alone on the earth, so he gave her the elixir for safekeeping.

Chang E, Hou Yi’s wife, was a beautiful and kind woman who helped the poor, and
people liked her very much. The greedy Fengmeng wanted the elixir so much. On the
morning of a 15th day of an 8th lunar month, Fengmeng broke into Chang E's home
when Hou Yi was outside hunting and demanded that she hand over the elixir. Knowing
that she could not defeat him, Chang E promptly swallowed the elixir. As soon as she
swallowed it, she flew to the sky towards the moon.

Hou Yi went back home and found his wife had disappeared. He rushed out of the door
anxiously, Chang E was standing next to a laurel tree on the moon and staring lovingly
at her husband. “Chang E! Chang E!” He screamed and shouted desperately toward the
moon. But once he chased forward, the moon went back, so he could never catch up.
Missing her wife so much, Hou Yi prepared the banquet towards the moon on every
15th day of 8th lunar month, looking forward to meet and reunite with Chang E.

The folks were very fond of the good-hearted Chang E. They also put on the sacrifice on
that day and blessed her in the distance. Since then, the 15th day of the 8th lunar
month, which was the day Chang E flew to the moon and separated with her beloved
husband, has become the Mid-Autumn Festival for people to reunite.

Reference:

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/mid-autumn-festival-story.htm